In Memory

Gordon S Marshall - Class Of 1937

Entrepreneur and USC trustee Gordon S Marshall, who made a fortune distributing electronics components and bestowed millions of dollars on his alma mater, has died. He was 95. He died June 2, 2015, of natural causes at his home in Pasadena.

Marshall was one of the longest-serving trustees in USC's history, having joined the board in 1968, and served as chairman, secretary, and in various other capacities. He made national news in 1996, when he donated $35 million to the university's business school. The Gordon S Marshall School of Business was named in his honor. At the business school, he lectured in several courses and served as executive-in-residence. He received several alumni awards for excellence, including the alumni association's highest honor, the Asa V Call Alumni Achievement Award, in 2005.

Marshall was born November 17, 1919, and grew up in South Pasadena. He was a B-24 bomber pilot during World War II and graduated from USC with a degree in accounting in 1946. He founded Marshall Industries in 1953, acting out of a love of electronics gained as a teenage ham radio operator. The company, based in El Monte, was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1959 and grew to become one of the nation's five largest distributors of electronics components. The company was purchased by Avnet Inc in 1999.

Besides the business school, Marshall's name is attached to the Gordon S Marshall Chair in Engineering, the Gordon S Marshall Early Career Chair and the Gordon S Marshall Professorship in Engineering Technology. Marshall was also a founder of the Los Angeles Music Center.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Lynne; and is survived by daughters Alison, Karen, and Valerie.